Hollyoaks’ ‘self-harm pact’ storyline is ‘dangerous and could start a problem’, claims former self-harmer
Tor Stimpson, 34, from Oxfordshire, self-harmed from the age of 15 throughout her teen years and into her 20s and claims the group self-harm session on Tuesday's episode trivialises the issue and could encourage vulnerable young viewers to try it
A FORMER self-harmer has blasted Hollyoaks' "self harm pact" storyline, calling it "dangerous" and warning it could "start a problem".
Tor Stimpson, 34, from Oxfordshire, self-harmed from the age of 15 throughout her teen years and into her 20s.
During Tuesday night's episode, Peri Lomax encouraged pal Yasmine Maalik to “cut herself” – which left some viewers horrified.
The other character present, Lily, played by actress Lauren McQueen, has been self-harming since July, and it emerged this week that Peri has also cut herself.
Tor, who appeared on BBC3's Cut Up Kids in 2008, accused the group self-harm scene of "trivialising the issue" and warned it could encourage vulnerable young viewers to try it themselves.
She explained: "I thought the storyline was done really well, but I didn’t like the idea towards the end of the episode about them being in a group and encouraging each other.
"Self-harm’s a personal thing, you don’t involve your friends. You don’t make a pact not to tell anyone, because you wouldn’t have even have told your friends.
"Making it into a group thing made me a bit worried that other people might be encouraged to do it like that.
"It didn’t feel right them saying, ‘Give it a go'. I didn’t like the idea of them saying, ‘Go on, try it’, as that might encourage people, I think.
"That group setting I think is quite dangerous.
"Doing it that way trivialises the issue. I wouldn’t encourage when I was younger and did it, but showing it like that might encourage people who are vulnerable already but wouldn’t have thought about doing it.
"It could start a problem."
Tor pointed out that referring to self-harm as an "attention-seeking" ploy is also potentially damaging.
"One of the girls on Hollyoaks, when they found out about it, she said she’d done it for attention," she explained.
"That’s sending out the wrong message.
"I think most people know nowadays that it’s not attention-seeking, even though it used to be blamed on that kind of behaviour. A lot of the time it is hidden."
Tor told how she started self-harming after trying to give herself a homemade tattoo using a compass and ink with a friend.
She said: "That gave me the idea of self-harm, because it felt good. It relieved all the pressure and the feelings inside. Like they said in Hollyoaks, it can become an addiction.
"With my other friend it didn’t lead to anything – except a bit of a tattoo.
"At that age you don’t realise it's a mental health issue; you just feel horrible.
"I was later diagnosed with depression and then they turned around and said it was bipolar."
Tor used the blades from razors to cut her arms, starting at the top and working her way down when she ran out of space.
She admitted: "You don’t care about where it was, you just covered it up, so people didn’t see it.
"It got worse in my late teens and early 20s, when I was away from home at university.
"I knew that no one would notice. I cut and burned myself, either with lighters or boiling water from the kettle."
Tor puts much of her recovery down to getting her two cats when she was 22.
"It gave me something else to worry about and care for," she explained.
What is self-harming?
Self-harm is when somebody intentionally damages or injures their body. It's usually a way of coping with or expressing overwhelming emotional distress.
Sometimes when people self-harm, they feel on some level that they intend to die. Over half of people who die by suicide have a history of self-harm.
However, the intention is more often to punish themselves, express their distress or relieve unbearable tension. Sometimes the reason is a mixture of both.
Self-harm can also be a cry for help.
If you're self-harming, you should see your GP for help. They can refer you to healthcare professionals at a local community mental health service for further assessment. This assessment will result in your care team working out a treatment plan with you to help with your distress.
Information supplied by NHS Choices.
"I went through lots of psychiatric treatments but none of them seemed to work much.
"Then I had a massive stroke when I was 26, so that changed me. I had an aneurysm in my brain and it clotted.
"It's really weird, but my bipolar has calmed down quite a lot since my stroke from what it used to be."
Animal-lover Tor, who studied a Higher National Diploma (HND) at agricultural college, is currently a volunteer for Dogs for Good, but the side effects from her stroke mean she's very limited with what she can do.
She said: "I have a weakness down the left side, as well as memory and concentration issues.
"I’ve learnt to get on with things and my mum helps me out a lot. It’s annoying that I can’t do what I wanted to do, because I was sailing, but that’s no longer possible, so I’ve gone back to the animals."
Tor said she does think overall it's a good thing that self-harm is appearing more in the media now.
She added: "When I started self-harming, no one was aware of it. I wasn’t aware of what it was called.
"It’s a lot more well-known now, so hopefully people can get help earlier on."
Hollyoaks actress Lauren has previously said she is "proud" that Hollyoaks is taking the risk to do a storyline like this, adding: "It's obviously so important not to encourage anyone to do it.
“We had a workshop with Mind and Samaritans and a young woman who's actually self-harmed. It gave me a real insight into how it affects people and I read a lot online, so that really helped.”
A spokesperson for Hollyoaks told The Sun Online: "“Hollyoaks embarked on telling this story after we were informed by charities including The Samaritans, MIND and The NSPCC that this is a huge issue for young people that is not being talked about and we have worked closely alongside them in order to help raise awareness of self-harming and the dangers faced by sufferers.
"We have a long established history of tackling difficult and important issues that affect our audience in a sensitive, engaging and informative way and the episode was accompanied with both on and off-air support pointing viewers to appropriate helplines.”
Lorna Fraser, Samaritans’ Media Adviser commented: “Soaps have a vital role to play in raising public awareness of sensitive issues, such as self-harm and suicide.
"Carefully developed storylines like Lily’s can be very powerful in engaging viewers, who may be suffering in silence, encouraging them to speak out and seek help....
“We would encourage any viewers who have been touched by Lily’s story to contact Samaritans’ helpline. People can call us for free from any phone at any time on 116 123 (this number will not appear on your phone bill) or email [email protected] or go to www.samaritans.org to find details of your nearest branch of Samaritans.”
Yesterday we told how experts claim social media is "fuelling" a shocking two-thirds rise in teen girls self-harming.
Earlier this year a study showed a quarter of young men have self-harmed to cope with stress or pressure while another 22 per cent have considered it.
